With increased recording densities, the dimensions of the magnetic recording sensor are decreased to sense the magnetic flux of each bit on the magnetic medium. A consequence of decreasing the size of the magnetic recording sensor is there is a significant drop in the on-track field which requires a low coercivity media to maintain acceptable writing. As the size of the magnetic recording sensor is reduced, generally the fringe field is also reduced, however, the quantity WPE (write plus erase width)—TPW (top pole width) remains somewhat constant due to lack of scaling of head to media spacing. WPE is defined by the cross-track width of the recorded pattern. Side shields help to reduce the fringe field and consequently WPE, however side shields also reduce on-track field. This reduction in on-track field requires the use of even smaller coercivity for the media that increases WPE. This reduction of on-track field offsets the reduction in WPE for side shield design, thereby limiting areal density improvement. What is desired is a side shield design that reduces WPE while minimizing on-track field loss.